A portrait of the modern machine politician – Rochelle Schweizer's depiction is guaranteed to make you dislike Nancy Pelosi even more than you do now.

As a former resident of the San Francisco Bay Area I have been quite familiar with Nancy Pelosi for some years. It was painfully obvious from the start of her career in San Francisco that she was not someone who could be trusted. Like George Miller, the Burtons and a fair number of other California Democrats she was primarily interested in building personal power and padding her family's considerable wealth. What I didn't know about the woman who currently holds the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives is how corrupt she truly is, and where the corruption began.

Rochelle Schweizer covers the history of Pelosi's youth, as the daughter of Democrat machine politician Tommy D'Alesandro in Baltimore Maryland, her involvement in political activity as a child along side her mother and father, through her college experiences, marriage and the start of her personal career and quest to become the queen of the political hill.

Ms. Schweizer delivers the story in detail, from what appears to be a neutral position until one delves far enough into her book to understand that if she was simply a neutral biographer at the outset, her position changes to an outright critic; It is almost as if she has discovered that the subject of her book is deserving of an indictment, rather than an unbiased examination.

This rather amazing history begins with the story of Tommy D'Alesandro's "godfather" like operation in Baltimore in the first half of the 20th Century. D'Alesandro was a staunch Democrat and so was his machine. We see how Pelosi's experiences working with him and with her mother; her father's right hand in politics shaped her approach to organizing, and tracking political debts. It also shows the origins of her "take no prisoners" attitude.

After covering the ideological and psychological origins of the Pelosi machine Ms. Schweizer takes us to San Francisco, acquaints us with the Democrat apparatus already in place and detailing how Pelosi wormed her way into a position of influence, setting the stage for her congressional bid, which, in turn paved the way for her manipulations and machinations leading to the speakership. Many of her legislative battles are presented in detail with all the questionable ethical practices along the way. Separate chapters deal with the health care and energy bills. Another deals with her religious attitudes and her disputes with the Catholic Church. Schweizer recognizes them for what they are; hypocrisy.

In the end we see someone who claims to be motivated by justice, who claims to be doing the "Lord's work, and who claims that she stands for ethics and the rule of law turn out to be a corrupt "ends justify the means" politician who will lie, cheat, and probably worse to get what she wants. Apparently, because she believes that whatever she is doing is right, anything, regardless of ethical or moral considerations is acceptable where she and her compatriots are concerned. The opposition, meanwhile, gets away with nothing and a short chapter is devoted to Pelosi's infamous incivility to the opposition and to those who are not on "her team." While Pelosi has not yet followed the example of Congressman Preston Brooks, who assaulted Senator Charles Sumner with his walking cane in 1856, you get the impression that she might, if she thought it would benefit her. At the same time it becomes obvious that political power is not her only goal; increased financial wealth is a close second, and politics has become a road to that goal as well.

In one important but rather brief paragraph Ms Schweizer delves briefly into Pelosi's one important breach with her father; Communism. Big Tommy, as he was known, was a staunch anti-Communist. Part of this may have stemmed from his Catholic faith. With his daughter, it has become more a matter of convenience, as has her anti-American stance on various issues. It is noted that her pro-Castro/Cuba stance might be different if she represented a district in the Miami area instead of San Francisco.

The reader should be forewarned that for all of its excellent information this book is not exactly an easy read. It is best consumed in small pieces that may be digested before going on to the next part. There is simply so much to say that even in a well prepared, well composed piece it is possible for the reader to be overwhelmed if they try to take on too much too fast.

If there is one weakness in this book, it is that there is very little space devoted to the relationship between Pelosi and Hillary Clinton. There is no mention of a purported rivalry between the two over who would be the first woman president. One source suggested to me that Ms. Pelosi spiked Ms. Clinton's chances at the convention by pushing the Democrat Party's super-delegates into voting for Obama. This has never been verified, but it would have provided some interesting insight, if there were credible information to be had, yea or nay, on that score.

She's The Boss is available at Amazon.com